Criminal Ingenuity by Ellen Levy (2011)
for more on Ashbery and the dynamic between art and poetry. Also visit Prudence Peiffer's review of the book in her article, "Free Agents," in the Nov. 2012 issue of Artforum magazine, which names Leaving the Atocha Station as an "excellent novel."

We are already pumped and ready for A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, next month's Reader's Den selection. The protaganist Sasha, has an uncle who travels to Naples and has an epiphany staring at the sculpture of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Museo Nazionale, "What moved Ted, mashed some delicate glassware in his chest, was the quiet of their interaction, the absence of drama or tears as they gazed at each other, touching gently. He sensed between them an understanding too deep to articulate: the unspeakable knowledge that everything is lost."

It appears that whether or not people have life-changing experiences with art, many of us are open to the possibility.